That's right, Richard Pombo, Ocean Enemy #1 has been defeated in the Republican primary for California's 19th district House seat! This means he will not be able to sell off national parks or press for drilling off the California coast. He won't be able to gut the endangered species act, or as he liked to say "return to finish the job".

This victory couldn't have happened without you. When we asked, you responded, just like you did when we beat him the first time in 2006. As in 2006, your support enabled us to join a powerful environmental coalition. Back then, we ran a very public campaign to shine a light on all Pombo's flaws. This year, we worked behind the scenes to make sure he didn't build any momentum. In the process, we learned that Pombo was still badly damaged from the work we all did in 2006, which made beating him a little easier the second time around. So while the approach this time was different, the result was the same - another Pombo defeat.

As Pombo slinks back to his ranch in the 11th District, to do whatever it is that he does there, we can rejoice that he will NOT be going back to Congress; that he will NOT be getting any seniority back, and that he will NOT be chairing any Natural Resources Committees. This is great news for the oceans.

At Ocean Champions, we focus on helping to elect strong ocean advocates to Congress. Sometimes however, we have to take out the bad guys, and Richard Pombo is a very bad guy for the oceans. He should know that if he ever runs for national office again, Ocean Champions and the rest of the environmental coalition will again be there to beat him!

Congratulations to the environmental coalition and congratulations to you on this major victory!